Clathworthy honored at 75th annual Cattleman banquet

By Dan Barker Fort Morgan Times News Editor

Posted:
03/04/2014 04:00:00 PM MST

John Clatworthy, right, received the honorary lifetime membership award in the Morgan County Cattlemen's Association's annual banquet recently at the Country Steak Out. He was very grateful for the honor and mentioned his love of this community because of the friendships and support he has earned here. This was the group's 75th anniversary banquet.
(Maggie Christensen/For the News-Tribune)

Auctioneer John Clatworthy was given an honorary lifetime membership for the Morgan County Cattlemen's Association at the organization's 75th annual banquet.Clatworthy has supported the Cattlemen for 25 to 30 years, including service as the auctioneer for the annual fundraising auction at the banquet.His great-grandparents came to the area in 1884, he said."Morgan County has been good to the Clatworthy family," he said.During the ceremony, Clatworthy was told he would be given a cowboy hat to show he was part of the Cattlemen, and out came a giant, floppy hat normally used at things like a football game, but he was good natured about it, putting it on immediately.The banquet and other fundraising activities help pay for the projects the MCCA supports each year.

Morgan County Extension agent Marlin Eisenach introduced the Morgan County Cattlemen's Association Scholarship Recipients Chelsee Bruggling, Carli Nichols, Alicia Nichols, Ryan Nichols, and Rebecca May, who are attending Colorado State University and Brigham Young University of Idaho. (Maggie Christensen/For the News-Tribune)

That includes offering scholarships to young people who want to major in agricultural studies.When the association first started its scholarship program about 20 years ago, it offered a $250 scholarship to two students, said Morgan County Extension Agent Marlin Eisenach.Today, the association has eight students it is giving $500 a year, he noted.Clatworthy helped jump start the scholarship program, because without the auction, the association could not offer the scholarships, Eisenach said.Another fundraiser, the newest, is the Feeding Contest.Association President Matt Kalous said 24 steers were entered in the contest this year. Their average weight gain so far has been 4.

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49 pounds a day, and they have an average weight of 1,069 pounds.That is a testimony to the quality of calves in Morgan County, he said.Last year, the winner of the contest won $1,800, Kalous said.It is important to raise funding, because the scholarships are not the only projects of the Cattlemen.They also pay half of the cost for sending all the third-grade students in the county to the National Western Stock Show, which includes the cost of transportation for 360 students and 105 teachers, parents and other volunteers, Eisenach said.The Fort Morgan Young Farmers pays the other half.He said that this program began when he realized that many Morgan County kids had no idea where their food came from.Before the stock show each year, a team of Cattlemen and Young Farmers teaches kids about everything that is raised in Morgan County and how these crops and livestock are used.The students take a test on their agricultural knowledge before the team gets to their classrooms and before they go to the stock show. They take the test again after they learn about agriculture, Eisenach said.This year, students scored 51 percent on the pre-test, but scored 79 percent on the final test, he said.Another project of the Cattlemen Association is donating a steer and a heifer to two deserving kids. This year, Reid Ernst was given the steer and Quinton Draegert was given the heifer. Alan Meyer donated the steer, Brian Downing donated the heifer.Those animals will be shown in the Morgan County Fair.

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